Upgraded Emad ballistic missile poses greater threat to Israel - Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

by Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

Iranian defense minister says his country "will unveil the next generation of Emad with improved precision in the next [Iranian] year [starting March 20]" • Iran to also start receiving Russian S-300 air defense system and possibly Sukhoi-30 fighter jets.

An Iranian Emad rocket launched as part of a missile test held in October | Photo credit: Reuters

Iran plans to unveil an upgrade of its Emad ballistic missile this year, the Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan announced on Wednesday, advancing a program that has drawn criticism from the United Nations and sanctions from the United States.

In October, Iran declared it had successfully tested the domestically produced long-range precision-guided missile, which it said was the first that could be guided all the way to targets at a range of 1,700 kilometers (1,100 miles), putting Israel within reach.

"We will unveil the next generation of Emad with improved precision in the next [Iranian] year [starting March 20]," Dehghan was quoted as saying by Iran's Fars news agency.

"The Emad missile is not a violation of the nuclear deal or any U.N. resolution since we will never use a nuclear warhead [on it]. It's an allegation," he said, adding that mass production of the missile would begin shortly.

Iran is also expected to start receiving a delivery of the advanced Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system in the next two months, Dehghan added -- a system that was unavailable to Iran before a landmark nuclear deal was reached with world powers last summer.

Russia canceled a contract to deliver the advanced anti-missile rocket system to Iran in 2010 under pressure from the West following U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program.

Tehran and Moscow have also started talks on the supply of the Russian-made Sukhoi-30 fighter jets to Iran, Dehghan said.

"We have even decided on the number of Sukhoi-30 fighter jets that we want to buy," Dehghan said.

Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=31695

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